December 2012 Logistics Market Snapshot

December 17, 2012

Please find attached the December edition of the monthly Logistics Market Snapshot. As we enter into the final weeks of the Holiday season, we have included below some selected encouraging seasonal statistics as we close out 2012, and get ready for what 2013 brings our way.

The U.S. GDP increased 2.7% in the third quarter of 2012 according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. (Source: US BEA)

A record 247 million shoppers visited stores and websites to make purchases over the Black Friday sales weekend. The number of shoppers was up 9% from the 226 million who shopped last year. Total spending over the four-day weekend reached a record $59.1 billion, a 13% increase over last year. (Source: NRF)

Black Friday online sales increased 28% year-over-year and surpassed $1 billion for the first time. Cyber Monday became the heaviest online spending day on record at $1.46 billion, a 17% increase over last year. (Source: comScore, Inc.)

FedEx shipped more than 19 million packages on Monday, December 10, making it the single busiest shipping day in company history. UPS expects its own peak shipping day on December 20, when more than 28 million packages will be delivered. In the next week, UPS expects to deliver 135 million packages of the 527 million is has forecasted for the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Finally, for those of us with young children (or grandchildren) at home many of the names in the chart below are all too familiar. I thought this information from our friends at Zepol might help provide ideas for some of your shopping decisions:

Top Ten Toy Imports

Valdosta-Lowndes Announces VisionFirst Advisors to Develop Community & Economic Development StrategyRead More

Brad Folsom Appointed to Valdosta-Lowndes County Development AuthorityRead More